kenopsia
by MirageDream
Summary: He's tired of seeing them suffer —Ren, peripheral rennora / rennora!friendship
**disclaimer** : not mine, don't try
 **dedication** : to muses that come when you're walking across campus  
 **note** : a little bunny hopped into my brain and scratched until i couldn't resist anymore  
 **note2** : squint real hard if you wanna see that rennora

 **title** : kenopsia  
 **description** : He's tired of seeing them suffer —Ren, peripheral rennora / rennora!friendship  
—

.

.

.

"Ren, he's doing it again."

Ren looks up from the map, his eyes glancing over to where the leader of JNPR sits, leaned back against the chair, head slightly tilted upward and arms hanging between his legs. Jaune's eyes are glazed over, lost inside his mind of memories and guilt. Ren closes his eyes and inhales, a breath of exhaustion that highlights the shadows under his eyes and the aging he's gone through since the attack.

Nora nudges him again, uncertainty and worry clouding her face. Ever since the attacks, Nora had undergone the most change. While Jaune continued to fight and lead more fiercely despite his moments of loss, where he would hide himself away, the fire in Nora's eyes had begun to recede, replaced with fear, worry, and guilt. To others, Nora seemed just as fierce as ever, if not more so, yet Ren knew her better.

In the flickering of firelight, when the team and Ruby would be camped out, the leaders of two broken teams too tired to keep their eyes open, Nora would crawl over to Ren, who nowadays had charged himself with guard duties and slept little. There they would sit together underneath the canopy of trees in silence and face to face, Nora's back to the fire and face shadowed. Her mouth would open, close, open, and then close again pondering her words. Bite her lips, break their eye contact. Then she would shake, small trembles that started at her fisted hands before she punched the ground and sent electric shocks only Ren felt.

The first time she did this, she'd screamed, awakening Jaune and Ruby and a host of Grimm creatures. They had barely managed to fight off the hoard and escaped. After that encounter, only her shakes and electricity were the outlet for her frustration and guilt, other than the fights and scuffles they would encounter.

Some nights, that would be all she did, shake and send electric currents through the ground, Ren keeping careful watch of her and the camp. Sometimes she would be near him, sometimes she would lay in her sleeping bag, but every night he felt the currents. Other nights, her shoulders would slump with exhaustion and she'd allow him to pull her toward him, and she'd fall asleep to him cradling her like when they were younger and first without parents. She never cried, they never spoke, and he never pushed her to.

It was a silent agreement, and Nora knew he would never say a thing, and he never did. The team was already fractured with their demons, they didn't need more. And so, their nights went like that and their days were spent planning, mapping, moving, searching. No leads and no clues, but desperation and guilt drove them forward, their only goal the ones responsible for the attack, for the breaking of their teams.

Only, sometimes Ren thought their fervent search was their undoing. Rest only came when they were forced to, out of pure exhaustion or lack of supplies. Battles were wearing them down and it was through days of convincing that he managed to get the whole team to check into the inn and really _rest_ , on the condition he would still be working towards a clue.

"Let him be, Nora. He needs time." Nora shifts from one foot to the other, unsure, now, of what to do. Ren glances around, noting their supplies, the clutter of papers, notes and maps on the table and piled on the floor, all marked to near illegibility. "Nora, can you go get us more supplies? We're running low on food again. And more Dust wouldn't hurt either."

She straightens up, relieved for something to do now, glad to be leaving the inn where gloom had replaced the cozy atmosphere originally there. Nora nods once, and then turns on her heels, taking off before he can add another word in. Jaune blinks and jolts upright when the door slams shut behind her, looking wildly around, hand reaching for his hip, where his sword would be had he not been forced to set it aside.

"What happened? Who left?"

"Nora's gone to get supplies. You should go too," Ren replies, going back to the maps. Jaune hesitates and Ren looks up, meeting his leader's eyes. "Go. Fresh air will do you good." His voice is soft but firm, a voice he'd often use when reprimanding Nora. The only remnant of their days at Beacon. Jaune leaves, and Ren lets out a breath he didn't think he was holding in. He turns and stares back at the mess A clue, a lead, a pattern, _anything_. He needed _something_.

He's tired of seeing them suffer.

.

.

.

—

 **notes2** : ughughugh


End file.
